By: Dutton H.B. No. 1413 73R4732 CAE-F A BILL TO BE ENTITLED 1-1 AN ACT 1-2 relating to assistance to disadvantaged businesses in professional 1-3 services contracts. 1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: 1-5 SECTION 1. Section 3, Professional Services Procurement Act 1-6 (Article 664-4, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended to read 1-7 as follows: 1-8 Sec. 3. (a) No state agency, political subdivision, county, 1-9 municipality, district, authority, or publicly-owned utility of the 1-10 State of Texas shall make any contract for, or engage the 1-11 professional services of, any licensed physician, optometrist, 1-12 surgeon, architect, certified public accountant, land surveyor, or 1-13 registered engineer, or any group or association thereof, selected 1-14 on the basis of competitive bids submitted for such contract or for 1-15 such services to be performed, but shall select and award such 1-16 contracts and engage such services on the basis of demonstrated 1-17 competence and qualifications for the type of professional services 1-18 to be performed and at fair and reasonable prices, as long as 1-19 professional fees are consistent with and not higher than the 1-20 published recommended practices and fees of the various applicable 1-21 professional associations and do not exceed the maximum provided by 1-22 any state law. 1-23 (b) A state agency, political subdivision, county, 1-24 municipality, district, authority, or publicly-owned utility of the 2-1 State of Texas shall make a good faith effort to assist 2-2 disadvantaged businesses to receive at least 10 percent of the 2-3 total value of all contract awards for professional services that 2-4 the entity expects to make during its fiscal year. The state 2-5 agency, political subdivision, county, municipality, district, 2-6 authority, or publicly-owned utility shall estimate the expected 2-7 total value of its contract awards under this Act not later than 2-8 the 60th day of the entity's fiscal year and may revise the 2-9 estimate as new information requires. 2-10 (c) In this section, "disadvantaged business" has the 2-11 meaning assigned that term in Section 1.02, State Purchasing and 2-12 General Services Act (Article 601b, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), 2-13 and its subsequent amendments. 2-14 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1993. 2-15 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the 2-16 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an 2-17 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the 2-18 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several 2-19 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.